Ok, the count down is on. Time to make your predictions. Let's see who can get the closest to the actual thing. This time around I'm trying to restrict my predictions to what I think it will have rather than what I want it to have.
Here is my overly detailed prediction:
[Updated to compare with actual]
Today Google announced that cloud file storage was coming to Google Docs. After quickly reading the details, my first response (and pretty much everyone else's) was MEH. Only 1G for free with no local syncing? I'll stick with Dropbox, thank you very much. Seriously after all these many years of G-Drive rumors that was all they could come up with? But after some further though I think we may be missing the real potential here. I say 'potential' because this is only speculation, and may not be Google's intent, but hear me out.
When I switched away from Windows Mobile I left behind a lot of functionality, some built in and some via 3rd party apps. Over time Apple has managed to add some of these things to the platform, like cut and paste (duh!) and Bluetooth Stereo support. Gradually 3rd party apps have also appeared to fill in many of the cracks left by my switch. I found another one last night - Air Video.
I used to use TCPMP or BetaPlayer to stream Xvid files from my media server to my PocketPC over WIFI. I gave this up when I switched to the Apple platform. The iPhone won't play anything but mp4 and I'm not about to convert all my vids. Also the iPhone doesn't have any native support for accessing a network share. Now that problem is solved with Air Video. Air Video allows you to stream video in almost any format to the iPhone. Since the iPhone only displays mp4 the video must be converted (transcoded). Luckily Air Video will do that for you - either by queuing up the conversion or by transcoding on the fly.
To use it you need to install a server program on your Mac or PC and point it to the folders you would like to share. The server software uses Bonjour so you don't need to configure any network settings. After it is up and running the iPhone Air Video app will find the local machine automagically. They also claim some support for streaming across the internet, but I haven't tried that. You can also share iTunes playlists.
There are two versions of the app, one pay (2.99) and one free. The free version limits the number of items you can see in a folder, but otherwise behaves the same.
I downloaded the server and app and after a quick setup I was streaming anime in .mkv format to my iPhone. Initially I was not able to see the subtitles, but I found there was a beta version of the server. I installed it and the subtitles appeared.
It feels weird to agree with luddites AT&T that forcing them to maintain the land line infrastructure with ever decreasing margins is a bad idea.
These days there's far too much to read and not enough time to read it. I'll show you a couple ways to keep up with your reading using some free tools that are readily available.
Here's a typical scenario: you're reading an article on the web and find a link to something else very interesting, so you open it in a new tab to read later. You keep going on like this and by the end of the day you have 20 tabs open. And this is just one machine, many of us use multiple computers as well as smart phones. How can you keep up with all this reading? The best trick that I found so far is to be able to push this reading into any 'free' time that I have scattered throughout my day. For example, when I'm waiting in lines, or waiting for meals, or people. I can also find time during ads or previews etc. During most of this time I'm not in front of my computer however, so the old 'tab' trick just won't cut it. My other favorite 'free' time however is while driving. I currently have quite a long commute, over 45 minutes each way. If you are creative you can use both of these types of idle time to conquer you reading list.
You're gonna want a 30" monitor for maximum Vi usage.
Comments (0)
AnandTech has some great SSD write ups here and here.
Looks like the intel X25-M is the best choice, and you can get the 160 GB drive for $500 at amazon. That still seems a little pricey to me.
The Case Against Apple-in Five Parts
The article is pretty good, but I really got a kick out of the comments. I found this one part way down:
If Microsoft managed the Windows PC world the way Apple manages the iPhone/iPod touch world, Apple’s revenue would be less than half of what it is today. Imagine:
Steve: Hi, we’ve just submitted the Windows version of our iTunes app to the Windows app store.
Bill: Interesting. It looks like it duplicates existing functionality of the Windows OS, which includes Windows Media Player. Rejected.
Steve: What? There are similarities, yes, but iTunes provides a clean, easy to use interface for managing, purchasing, and playing music. Further, it allows Windows users to connect their iPods to their PCs and sync their music library seamlessly.
Bill: Sorry, our policy still stands. Besides, third party applications aren’t allowed direct access to music stored on a user’s PC.
Steve: But then how will we revolutionize the portable media player market and the mobile phone market, boosting our Mac market share and making billions of dollars in the process?
Bill: You won’t.
I wonder what revolutionary apps/gear/services we’ll miss out on because Apple finds them inconvenient.
-lang
There are also some good comparisons betweens Microsoft's anti-trust case for 'including' I.E. and Apple's down right 'rejection' of competing browsers like Opera mobile.
I'm enjoying the negative press Apple is getting, because hey I'm sick that way. But in the end I just want them to open things up a bit, and stop being, you know, evil.
Before you spam me, let me state that I do realize that the iPhone is not an open platform and they have the right to do what ever they want with 'their' product. I think the point being made in the market however is that consumers really want it to be open. Now I'm no business major, but I think that sometimes, just sometimes, it is a good idea to give customers what they want.
$ wget ftp://ftp.bitwizard.nl/mtr/mtr-0.75.tar.gz
$ make
$ sudo cp mtr /usr/sbin
$ sudo chmod +s /usr/sbin/mtr
$ mtr www.google.com
My traceroute [v0.75]
xxxxxxxx-macbook-pro.local (0.0.0.0) Wed Aug 5 13:19:34 2009
Keys: Help Display mode Restart statistics Order of fields quit
Packets Pings
Host Loss% Snt Last Avg Best Wrst StDev
1. 192.168.0.1 0.0% 37 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.9 0.0
2. xx.xxx.xx.xx 0.0% 37 2.2 2.3 2.0 4.4 0.5
3. xxx.xxx.xx.xxx 2.7% 37 3.7 3.7 3.3 5.7 0.5
4. xx.x.xxx.xxx 11.1% 36 7.3 11.2 6.7 67.7 12.1
5. xxxxxxxxxxx.sea.eschelon.com 8.3% 36 7.0 9.0 6.8 58.7 9.0
6. xxx.xxx.xx.xx 5.6% 36 7.3 12.4 7.0 102.7 16.9
7. xxxxxxxxxx.sttlwawb.integra.net 2.8% 36 7.4 15.3 7.0 129.9 23.4
8. six.sea01.google.com 5.6% 36 7.5 14.8 7.1 89.1 18.2
...
13. xxxxxxxxxx.google.com 5.6% 36 14.8 16.4 14.4 33.7 4.4
Yes, that is some packet loss :-)
killall -STOP firefox-bin killall -CONT firefox-binIt would be nice to integrate these commands when an app is hidden or shown, but for now this hack is good for saving battery life, or keeping your CPU cooler in hot weather!
As long as I can still stream unlimited amounts of crap movies from the 80's and 90's to my Xbox, I don't care.
This would be an interesting device, if they did it, and I wonder what model they'd use for software? Would all Mac OS X applications just run, or would they try to use an AppStore model with a new SDK designed specifically for it? After all, a device like that would have limited screen real estate, an accelerometer and a virtual keyboard... not many main stream Mac applications would be pleasantly shoe-horned into it. iPhone applications might assume a specific screen size, and might not look so great on a much larger screen.
Apple doesn't seem to make many niche products these days (Apple TV seems to be the exception), with their very clearly segmented Mac products, iPods and iPhones.
Still, I'd buy one just for web access at home while watching TV or lying in bed. Imagine if it could read Kindle books, too... could be cool.
Ok for more fun with predictions check out The Unweary Prediction Score Card. Print it out and pass it around the office. Or for even more fun buy the prediction iPhone app.
(Note: shameless plug for my friend's app.)
I don't know if these pics are real or not, but this pretty much what I think it will look like.
I agree with you on pretty much all of this, although I have no idea about the actual measurements. Definitely pa semi and modified iphone os. Hmm, I have a hard time with it not running iPhone apps. I agree that they won't run stock (a small windowed mode would be dumb). But I think the API will be so similar that a UI expansion and re-compile will be an easy port. Also, given Apple's history with "fat binaries", I imagine the SDK will let a single .ipa file to contain both the iPhone and the iPad UI with a common shared back end logic.
BTW, I don't like the name iPad - sounds like something you get at a drugstore for your girlfriend.
I also reaaaallllly hope they surprise and have a camera on front and back. Front for video conferencing and back for augmented reality.
I think they won't announce all the potential of all the apps, like full online application suite integration. They will focus on the media subscriptions and kindle++ aspects of this.
I'm guessing it won't have Don't Panic written in large friendly letters on the cover, which is a shame.
I'm guessing someone will make a cover for it with the words 'Don't panic' on it.
I guess the name iPad is ok. iSlate was too Laura Engles for me, did not convey any sense of modernity.
Updated the post to compare the predictions to actual.
So how do I feel about it? Well I tried to set my bar pretty low, or rather tried to filter out the un-realistic hype that has been on the web. In the end I was still way overly optimistic on things like cool new UI, multi-tasking and handwriting recognition.
There were some positive surprises however, like works with external keyboards including bluetooth, and battery life. Also I was expecting something 200 - 300 more expensive for wifi only. So all in all I think it is pretty cool.
The mood on the web seem pretty negative at the moment. But that is to be expected. No product could live up to the Apple fan boy speculation machine. I think we'll see long lines at the Apple store, yet again, in 2 months.
If I can vpn, remote desktop and use a keyboard and mouse, then I'm in. This would adequately replace my uses for a netbook. The missing camera is a bummer. And would at least one usb port really kill them? I guess an adapter is possible to connect thru the bottom, but if we're talking mobile here then why force users to have more dongles and adapters? I'm still uncomfortable with the size. Seems a tad too big, unless I go everywhere with a messenger bag, no doubt sold by Apple as well.
And if you could put 25 cents in the side and eject a tampon out the bottom, that would be cool too.